WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.299 As Alan mentioned, in the life of the church, 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.320 not only is it Confirmation Sunday, but it is 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:09.060 the second Sunday of Easter. If you remember 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:13.919 just last week, we did the Easter thing. And 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:16.879 so we continue into the Easter season on the 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.660 path to Pentecost. And on this Sunday, typically, 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:24.059 if you are used to coming to church on this Sunday, 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:27.899 you might know that often we read the story 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:31.670 of a disciple named Thomas, Doubting Thomas. 00:00:32.070 --> 00:00:35.829 But you might also be interested to learn that 00:00:35.829 --> 00:00:38.229 the lectionary gives us more than just Thomas. 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:42.969 And so our second text this morning is two for 00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:45.250 the second Sunday of Easter, and it comes from 00:00:45.250 --> 00:00:48.969 the stories of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:51.990 or maybe the Acts of the Holy Spirit from the 00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:56.409 early days of the church. Friends, let us go 00:00:56.409 --> 00:00:59.030 to God in prayer before we read this scripture. 00:00:59.189 --> 00:01:03.829 Let us pray. Good and gracious God, we give you 00:01:03.829 --> 00:01:06.409 thanks for this day, for this morning and time, 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:11.590 for the wails of praise, for the places, the 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:13.870 lives, and the stories that you have gathered 00:01:13.870 --> 00:01:17.069 us from, that we may be all here in this place, 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:21.180 settled in this moment. May your spirit descend 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.620 down upon us, filling us, opening our eyes and 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:28.980 our minds and our ears, that we might receive 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:33.180 a message of hope, a message of something different, 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:36.019 that we might go from this place transformed. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.000 May the words of my mouth and the meditations 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.680 of all our hearts gathered here in this place 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:46.959 be pleasing to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:53.480 Amen. Hear now these words from Acts 5, and we're 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:55.560 picking up kind of right in the middle of the 00:01:55.560 --> 00:02:02.519 story at verse 25. Then someone arrived and announced, 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:07.859 look, the men whom you put in prison are standing 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:11.580 in the temple and teaching the people. Then the 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:13.960 captain went with the temple police and brought 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.949 the apostles, but without violence. For the police 00:02:17.949 --> 00:02:21.930 were afraid of being stoned by the people. When 00:02:21.930 --> 00:02:25.189 they brought in the apostles, they had them stand 00:02:25.189 --> 00:02:28.870 before the council. And the high priest questioned 00:02:28.870 --> 00:02:33.969 them, saying, We gave you strict orders not to 00:02:33.969 --> 00:02:38.689 teach in his name. Yet here you have filled Jerusalem 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:42.490 with your teaching, and you are determined to 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:46.900 bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:50.939 the apostles answered them, we must obey God 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:57.259 rather than human authority. The God of our ancestors 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:01.240 raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:05.400 him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:09.159 as leader and savior, that he might give repentance 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:14.150 to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we, we 00:03:14.150 --> 00:03:18.530 are witnesses to these things. And so is the 00:03:18.530 --> 00:03:22.449 Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey 00:03:22.449 --> 00:03:25.750 him. Friends, this too is the word of God for 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:30.969 the people of God. Thanks be to God. Now it seems 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:33.370 to me, and you can agree or disagree, but it 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:38.229 seems to me that as we grow older, we tend to 00:03:38.229 --> 00:03:41.879 lose touch. with some of the most significant 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:46.819 parts of our childhood. This text from the early 00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:49.919 chapters of Acts, it makes me think of one of 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.800 my favorite childhood pastimes. It's right up 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:58.479 there with nap time and with snack time, which 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.180 if you're lucky enough to go to children's church, 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:04.580 you can still have snack time. It's this moment 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:07.919 where children are gathered. Maybe they are invited 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.919 to take a beanbag or to pull up a carpet square 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:16.740 to sit down and sit quietly or as quiet as you 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:21.300 can and to listen. Can you think of what I'm 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:26.279 thinking of? It's story time. Do you remember 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.550 story time? Do you remember those moments of 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:32.509 childhood? Do you remember being captivated by 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:35.110 the stories that your teacher might have read 00:04:35.110 --> 00:04:37.990 you when you were a child? Or maybe it was a 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:40.889 moment at home when your mother or your father 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:44.050 or your babysitter or grandparent or aunt or 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:46.449 uncle, where they grabbed your favorite book 00:04:46.449 --> 00:04:49.870 and said, let's read a story. For me, it was 00:04:49.870 --> 00:04:53.250 books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Harold 00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:55.910 and the Purple Crayon. You remember that one? 00:04:56.069 --> 00:05:00.410 Dr. Seuss. Maybe for you, like it was for me, 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:02.850 it was the stories of the Bible that would be 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:06.509 read to me and they would come alive. Noah's 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:11.629 Ark, the animals two by two, David and Goliath, 00:05:11.730 --> 00:05:16.470 Samson's strength, the creation narrative. Maybe 00:05:16.470 --> 00:05:19.790 it was the stories of Jesus and the many miracles 00:05:19.790 --> 00:05:24.269 that he did and performed. Now in preschool, 00:05:24.589 --> 00:05:28.209 I loved... every Monday morning. I don't love 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:30.949 them as much now, but I used to love Monday mornings 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:34.329 because I got to go to chapel time. We got to 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:38.610 leave class and come into the sanctuary and sit 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:42.129 on the front steps as the pastors taught us a 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:44.970 story. Now, if you don't know this about me, 00:05:45.009 --> 00:05:46.930 there's an extra layer to why I love that. The 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:50.389 pastors were my parents. I felt like the cool 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:53.540 kid. Right? Everybody else was so excited to 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:56.319 go see Dr. Dan and Dr. Helen, but I got to walk 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.120 in and say, hey, Mom and Dad. Right? It was different. 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.480 And it was a moment there in chapel time with 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:06.100 my peers where these stories of Scripture, they 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:08.480 were read once again to us, but even better, 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:12.980 they were acted out. We got to be the characters. 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:17.040 We got to see these stories literally come alive 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:21.720 in front of us. I've always been fascinated by 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:25.540 stories, just fascinated by stories. Of course, 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:28.660 those that are concocted in this imaginative 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:33.720 genius of writers, but especially the stories 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:37.620 that arise up out of the journeys of people's 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:41.970 lives. Now, the best stories... are the ones 00:06:41.970 --> 00:06:44.930 where you're sitting there, and as you're being 00:06:44.930 --> 00:06:47.649 told it, you can't help but just blurt out at 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:50.629 different moments, what happened next? Okay, 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:53.490 but what happened next? Don't dramatic pause 00:06:53.490 --> 00:06:57.230 me. What happened next? These are the stories 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:01.149 that captivate us, that leave us wanting more. 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.579 They're the stories that just lead us to this 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:07.920 place where our minds can't quite comprehend 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.060 the reality of the tale. There's just something 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:16.319 different. It's the stories of our own lives 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:21.540 where something happens, where someone happens 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:27.000 to be that are so life -altering, so life -altering 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.910 that we just can't help but to share. These stories 00:07:31.910 --> 00:07:35.970 with everyone we meet, with everyone that will 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:42.670 just lend us an ear to listen. Do you have these 00:07:42.670 --> 00:07:48.810 kind of stories? Do you have these stories? Do 00:07:48.810 --> 00:07:51.810 you want to share those stories with me, with 00:07:51.810 --> 00:07:58.490 us? Are you sitting here this morning? With those 00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:01.449 stories, but just waiting for an invitation, 00:08:01.550 --> 00:08:06.209 for someone to stop for a minute to see you and 00:08:06.209 --> 00:08:11.930 to say, tell me about your life. Tell me a story. 00:08:12.009 --> 00:08:18.889 Tell me your story. Now in this story of the 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:23.779 early church, the apostles find themselves On 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:27.180 the other side, here at verse 25, they find themselves 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:31.100 on the other side of a midnight jailbreak. Just 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.620 before our reading, some background, the temple 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:36.779 authorities, they have sent the apostles to jail, 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:40.639 to prison, the public prison, as the text says. 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:43.980 They have sent them there for healing, for teaching, 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:48.200 and for sharing this story of the resurrected 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:54.149 Jesus Christ. Now, while in prison, an angel 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:58.169 comes and it busts them out of prison. They're 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:01.870 in the middle of the night. And the apostles 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:04.669 do what someone would do if they simply just 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:12.029 had a story to share. They go back. They go back 00:09:12.029 --> 00:09:14.710 to the temple courts, back to the place where 00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:19.409 they had just been arrested the day before. And 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:23.220 as they go back there, They continue to witness. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.059 Now they do this on the angel's command. The 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:31.320 angel breaks them out of prison and says, go, 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:36.279 stand in the temple and tell the people, tell 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:40.399 the people the whole message about this life. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.299 The next morning, the prison police, as we've 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.990 read, are shocked. shocked to find that the prison 00:09:49.990 --> 00:09:54.149 is there, securely locked. But the apostles are 00:09:54.149 --> 00:09:58.549 nowhere to be seen. They report this rather unfortunate 00:09:58.549 --> 00:10:02.470 news to the chief priests, who likewise can't 00:10:02.470 --> 00:10:04.490 wrap their minds around it. They don't know what's 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:06.169 going on. They're wondering what's happened. 00:10:06.210 --> 00:10:11.149 Where are they? And it's right then that we get 00:10:11.149 --> 00:10:17.980 to 25, when someone shows up. Someone shows up 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:21.279 to announce that these formerly imprisoned apostles, 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:25.940 they're back in the temple courts teaching the 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:32.179 people and sharing their stories of faith. So 00:10:32.179 --> 00:10:36.200 the authorities pull them back in. What are you 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:40.820 doing? What do you think you are doing? Did we 00:10:40.820 --> 00:10:44.419 not explicitly tell you yesterday to keep your 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:49.950 mouth shut? Did you not get the message? Was 00:10:49.950 --> 00:10:53.129 it not clear that we do not want to hear about 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:56.870 your faith? I don't know if you know, but that's 00:10:56.870 --> 00:11:01.070 why we threw you in prison. We don't want to 00:11:01.070 --> 00:11:05.090 hear about your faith. The last thing that the 00:11:05.090 --> 00:11:08.600 chief priests want from these apostles. It's 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.500 for them to share their story of this Jewish 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:15.120 rabbi who was publicly mocked, flogged, and executed 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:19.440 on the cross by the Romans. The last thing the 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.080 chief priest want is to hear about these experiences 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:28.320 of faith in that man who was dead for three days 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:36.379 and then alive again. It's as if the world looks 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:41.240 at the apostles, And wielding the power of society, 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.519 the power of the systems, the power of status 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.200 and roles, it's as if the world looks at the 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.519 apostles and says, don't you dare tell me about 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:56.659 your faith. Don't tell me about your faith. But 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.259 in that imprisonment, physically behind bars 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:06.350 and spiritually handcuffed, God shows up. God 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:09.970 shows up in the angel and exclaims, be free. 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:18.409 Go. Tell your story. For your experience, what 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:24.950 you've seen, this is a story of life. And it 00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:30.730 needs to be shared. Tell me about your faith. 00:12:32.830 --> 00:12:36.960 Tell me about your faith. What have you seen? 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.759 What have you heard? What have you felt? What 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:46.220 have you tasted? What have you smelled? Tell 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:50.860 me about your faith. Whereas God flung open the 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:55.480 doors in your life and said, Thomas, this is 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:59.679 what the kingdom of heaven looks like. Martha, 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:03.340 this is what the kingdom of heaven looks like. 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:08.039 Bennett, this is what the kingdom of heaven looks 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:13.440 like. Tell me about your faith. Where has God 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:19.500 shown up? In the still, quiet place. In the casseroles 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:23.779 and in the flowers. In the cards and in the prayers. 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:28.559 In the meal of Maundy Thursday. In the grief 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.980 of Good Friday. in the lingering death of Holy 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:36.200 Saturday and in the resonating music of resurrection 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:40.919 on Easter morning and the baptism of your son. 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:47.539 Tell me about your faith. Where are God's fingerprints 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:53.659 in the life that you've lived, in the stories 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:56.960 that you've told and you have to tell? Tell me 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.879 about your faith. Every time we look at each 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:06.179 other and we lead with a childlike curiosity 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:09.539 to say to our neighbor, to our friends, to our 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:12.360 family, to a stranger, tell me about your faith. 00:14:12.980 --> 00:14:16.360 Every time we do that, we open ourselves up to 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:21.580 a brand new way, a brand new way that God has 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:27.299 been and is and will continue to move in the 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:31.929 world around us. When we have the courage to 00:14:31.929 --> 00:14:34.409 look at someone and to say, what's your story? 00:14:35.789 --> 00:14:39.470 What's your story? We learn something about the 00:14:39.470 --> 00:14:42.350 storyteller, but we also learn something about 00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:47.570 God who is the architect of that story. To obey 00:14:47.570 --> 00:14:51.629 God is to witness to the miraculous, even if 00:14:51.629 --> 00:14:55.509 it's microscopic, places of our lives where the 00:14:55.509 --> 00:15:01.399 resurrected Jesus has shown up. Peter proclaims 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.740 to the chief priest, we are witnesses to these 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:08.659 things. What we've experienced, it's so radical 00:15:08.659 --> 00:15:12.500 and life -changing that we must share it, no 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:17.460 matter what you say or command. He says to the 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.899 chief priest, I understood what you asked of 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:24.200 us. I understood why you put us in prison, but 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.750 I'm led by the commands of my God. by the angel 00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:31.870 who broke me out of that prison and said, go, 00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:38.769 by the God who defeated death, that we all may 00:15:38.769 --> 00:15:44.610 have life. Tell me about your faith. Tell me. 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:52.429 This year, our confirmation class spent some 00:15:52.429 --> 00:15:56.450 of our time reflecting on the writings of Frederick 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:00.450 Buechner, Frederick Buechner has been referenced, 00:16:00.470 --> 00:16:02.149 I think, in many of his sermons in this sanctuary, 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:08.289 is a pastor and a theologian and a writer. And 00:16:08.289 --> 00:16:11.350 he has this gift, in my opinion, for taking these 00:16:11.350 --> 00:16:15.669 abstract theological ideas and themes and bringing 00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:21.129 them into a frame that just makes sense. He says 00:16:21.129 --> 00:16:25.850 it in such a way that it just makes sense. One 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:29.110 of his greatest gifts, not only for the confirmands 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:32.309 who have been at this work examining their faith 00:16:32.309 --> 00:16:35.929 and what it means and who God is in their lives. 00:16:37.070 --> 00:16:42.009 This is also a gift for each of us. It's a gift 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:45.289 for you if you are one in this room who doubts. 00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:49.809 It's a gift for you if you are one who is here 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:53.779 dreaming and imagining and wondering. It's a 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:57.200 gift for each of us on our own paths or on our 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:01.539 own journeys of faith. And Buechner writes this 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:03.620 in his memoir, Now and Then. It's the pondering 00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:05.839 prayerfully on the very back of your bulletin. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:12.839 Listen to your life. Listen to your life. See 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.640 it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.559 the boredom and the pain of it. No less than 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:25.299 in the excitement and the gladness. Touch, taste, 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:28.740 smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:31.700 it, because in the last analysis, all moments 00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:40.740 are key moments, and life itself is grace. If 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:45.180 you find yourself lost for words, when you're 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:50.240 sharing your story of who God is in your life, 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:55.500 and sharing the stories of your faith, that's 00:17:55.500 --> 00:18:00.119 okay. Stop for a second. Stop for a minute. Stop 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:04.299 for an hour. Stop for a day. Just stop. Stop. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.440 Close your eyes. Go on, close your eyes. Close 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:18.660 your eyes. Trust me. Take a deep breath and listen 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:23.539 to your life. Listen to your life. Search for 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:29.619 the moments. Look where you haven't looked before. 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.160 Think of those people you haven't thought of 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:44.759 in a long time. Do you see the holy? Do you feel 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:50.440 the sacred in that story? That story that is... 00:18:50.650 --> 00:18:58.849 your story. Tell me about your faith. Let us 00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:07.690 pray. Good and gracious God, we hear your call 00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:16.750 to go to witness to this life. Fill us not only 00:19:16.750 --> 00:19:21.400 with courage and strength, but with peace. And 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:25.680 knowing that we don't go alone. And knowing that 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.819 there is someone out there who not only wants 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:34.000 to but needs to hear our story. Lead us to those 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:38.140 places and those people. That your love might 00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:43.000 be known in this world. We pray this all in the 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.000 name of the Father and of the Son and of the 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.099 Holy Spirit. Amen.